Summer Storm
by Georgshadow
Summary: Rain in the desert washes away more than dust and tumbleweeds. PWP, slash.


a/n: another one written for a tumblr friend. It was supposed to be a vague PWP but for this fandom I can't help but throw in a bit of "artsy" environmental stuff. I'm just so glad to see this fandom picking up, I thought I'd put up another story for it, even if dumb smut is the best I have to offer these days.

* * *

It was hot in New Mexico, and as they cruised past the sprawling brown landscape, a heavy electrical tension began to settle in the air. Tod was the first to notice the thick black soup in the sky ahead of them, hanging low and angry over the jagged, pink mountains.

"You could cut those clouds with a knife," he observed, having to shout not to lose his voice with the wind.

"It's comin' right at us," Buz agreed. "Do you wanna make a bet, whether us or it reaches Albuquerque first?"

"I don't know if I like the odds," Tod laughed. "What's the wager?"

Buz grinned, knowing whatever coy tone he had was lost to shouting. "The storm gets there first, you're on your belly when we get a motel room. We get there first, you're on your back." He leaned back in the seat, "It all depends on your driving, ol' leadfoot."

"I have a better idea," Tod replied, his hair whipping about his face as he turned to face his companion. "If we get there first, I'm on my belly. If the storm gets there first, _you're_ on your belly."

Buz nearly choked on the knot in his throat. Tod had never been so direct before. He might have hinted at it a few times, but he'd been sure he'd made it clear enough the way things were going to work between the two of them.

Well, he'd called it after all, way back when they'd first crossed the threshold from friendship to something else. It was only going to be a matter of time. Tod wasn't the kind of guy to settle for any kind of routine.

"I think I like my idea better," he said, sharply, hoping to end the conversation before it began. "Tell ya what, if the storm passes altogether, it's your choice."

"My choice of what?" Tod smirked.

"Don't. Don't even ask," Buz warned.

"Because if it's my choice, I'll tell ya what I'm gonna choose," Tod started up. "I'm not complaining, but we've been doing this for how many months now and I can count on one hand the number of times I've had you the way you've had me." Sternly, he held up a tightly balled fist. "Go ahead, count."

Buz sucked on his teeth and shook his head, "You know, for most guys, this isn't an issue. Like, you figure out who does what and then stick with that. Nobody asks any questions and everyone's happy."

"We're not exactly 'most guys,'" Tod said. When Buz didn't respond, he continued, "Maybe it isn't any trouble for you, but if this keeps up the way it has been I'm gonna have to learn to drive standing."

"It's not that bad," Buz rolled his eyes.

"As if you'd know."

"You think you're the only guy who's ever been on the bottom, huh?" Buz scoffed. "You and everyone else out there, buddy."

"Then why's it such a problem for you?" Tod asked.

"It's not a problem," Buz said. "It's just not something that I want to do when I'm with a guy."

Tod clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Hasn't it ever occurred to you that… what we have going on between us is a little different?"

"Yeah, I know," Buz grumbled. "We've got that whole _love_ thing getting in the way of an otherwise fantastic relationship."

"So when you uh, feel that way about a guy, whether he's your buddy or not, sometimes you learn to want to do something you never thought you'd ever like. I mean," Tod shook his head as he began to slow, easing the Corvette to the side of the road. "Before you I never thought I'd even end up with so much as a thermometer up there."

Buz couldn't help but grin. Sometimes Tod really knew how to push his buttons, but he knew how to calm him down again, too. "I guess it's just been a while for me, you know?"

Now going slow enough to keep the car steady with his knee on the steering wheel, Tod fished his cigarettes from one pocket and his lighter from another. "As long as I've known you, at least."

"Longer than that," Buz laughed. "Not, uh, since the first boyfriend I ever had."

"And how long has that been?" Tod asked, sounding sincerely interested.

Buz shrugged, "Well, I'll be 25 in September, and I had to have been, oh, thirteen or fourteen…"

Tod's cigarette broke in two, smashed against the lighter as he slammed on the breaks.

"Thirteen?!" he spat, as if Buz had just suggested they roast and eat the family dog.

All at once, Buz wished he wouldn't have said anything. It hadn't occurred to him that even in this situation, their ideas of 'normal' weren't always the same.

"Well, uh, I don't need to remind you that a guy grows up a little faster where I come from," he mumbled.

Tod stared at him and rolled the destroyed cigarette in his fingers over and over again. "I… I wish I would've known," he said.

Buz folded and unfolded his arms. "I hope you're not feeling sorry for me or something."

Tod didn't speak. He just kept rolling that cigarette between his fingers, little flakes of tobacco falling from it onto his shirt.

"I started making my own decisions a lot earlier in life than that. I guess that's not something you know as well as I do, but that's the truth, okay?" Buz hoped that it would explain enough without having to go into his whole life story on the spot.

The cigarette continued to roll. "It _was_ your decision?"

Unable to stand it any longer, Buz reached over and snatched the cigarette away, tossing it over his shoulder into the road. "Always," he said. "It was then and it is now." Beginning to smile again, he eased the rest of the pack back out from Tod's pocket and retrieved a new cigarette. Holding it between his lips, he lifted the lighter from Tod's hand and lit it, taking a long drag before leaning toward Tod. He held the cigarette in his fingers. "Let's make that bet, buddy. That storm up ahead—we beat it, you're on your belly. It beats us, I'm on mine." Then, he tilted his head and planted a soft kiss on Tod's open mouth, only stopping to replace his lips with the still-burning cigarette. "Deal?"

Tod sighed heavily, slamming his foot into the pedal and peeling out without answering.

"And if I so much as see that pedal anywhere but right up against the floor—," Buz teased.

"I know, I know," Tod replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

The race was a close one, them against nature. The harder Tod seemed to lean into that steering wheel, the faster those black clouds would boil and churn, rolling in toward them. Puffy and opaque, they were full of lightning—the electricity could be felt in the air even though the world seemed to grow stiller and stiller as they sped by. Buz could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he kept a steady eye on that ominous storm. Rain in the desert was a concept he'd only become familiar with in the past few months of his life. He was a man who prided himself on having whole lifetimes under his belt before he even finished high school, and yet somehow, that feeling of hot, tense humidity swelling in the sky, rain finally bursting forth after aching, teasing hours—it was a sensation he knew he would never get used to.

There were a lot of things in life like that, he knew. Things beyond human control, things beyond what anybody believed to be normal. Things that made him glance up to see Tod, white knuckles on the steering wheel, boot burying the gas pedal into the floorboard… and pray they'd never match the speed of that storm.

They stopped only to pull the top up. The rain was inevitable, although in their haste, neither of them dared to guess when it would come. At last they passed the outskirts of the city, the black clouds almost directly overhead by the time the rest stations and billboards boasting Native souvenirs gave way to restaurants and motels.

"Albuquerque," Tod muttered. "Did we- did we beat the storm?"

"It's not over until the downpour," Buz replied.

Finally, when he knew he couldn't keep driving endlessly, Tod turned the Corvette into a motel parking lot. The sky was completely blackened now, and that tension, that agonizing throb in the air, was unbearable.

"Do you want to…?" Tod started.

"You pay for the room," Buz said. "I'll take care of the stuff."

Silently, Tod handed over the keys and strutted across the parking lot, his hands jammed into his pockets, shoulders tensed at the strange feeling in the air. Buz could feel it, too. As he untied the suitcases from the back of the car, he could've sworn he could sense some kind of energy hanging over him, more menacing than the clouds that brought it.

And then all at once that energy was ripped apart. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the angry clouds, sending a bellowing roll of thunder echoing over the city.

Buz's heart raced. When had his breath become so labored? When had his pants become so uncomfortably tight?

Another crack of lightning, and then, without warning, the sky opened up. Buckets upon buckets of rain suddenly poured down, washing the dust off the Corvette, soaking through his thin shirt. He clutched the suitcases and looked to the motel office. Tod stood in the doorway, wild-eyed, chest heaving, gasping for breath, arms rigid at his sides. Pants bulging.

He burst out of the doorway, sprinting across the parking lot, pausing to grab his suitcase and wrap an arm around Buz's waist.

"You, uh, got the key?" Buz tried, letting Tod lead him, his own voice nearly smothered by the din of the rain.

Tod nodded. "Number 14," he said, shuddering. "I… I don't know what's happening to me."

"It's this storm," Buz guessed. "There's somethin' weird about it."

They made their way to the room and Tod let go of him just long enough to fumble with the key in the door. His hands were visibly shaking, but he somehow managed to get it into the lock. The room was sparse, and dark with the curtains drawn. Even with the door closed behind them, the rain shook the window and rattled the roof. Tod chucked his suitcase onto one of the beds and sat on the edge, struggling to get his boots off.

"Look, I don't mind the way we've been doing things," he muttered, his voice low and frantic. "I just, I just need t' do _something_. Now."

"We'll do it your way," Buz said. "I guess I just don't know what's happening to me, either. This storm-," he paused as the battering on the roof grew louder, "Just be careful, okay?"

Tod's eyes shone as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Yeah." He stood and tossed the article aside, quickly crossing the room to take Buz into his arms and kiss him. Buz let himself be held and he ran his hand up Tod's chest, brushing his fingers over the soft hair. On other men, he always thought it looked primitive, barbaric even. But Tod somehow made it endearing. The same went for his big, callused hands and virile, butch body. Somehow that boyish face made everything about him seem so tender.

And it was. He undid the buttons on Buz's shirt with finesse, slipping him out of his clothes, into his arms, kissing him softly all the while.

Slowly Tod backed up to the bed, sitting himself down and waiting for Buz to kick off his shoes and join him. When he did, he slid hesitantly onto the sheets, lowering himself onto his belly and folding his arms under the pillow. Tod ran his hands all up and down Buz's back, his rough fingers covering every inch of the smooth skin. Buz gulped and tried to make sense of the way he felt—so odd to be on his stomach, letting himself lay like this, exposed, open for Tod to take him. And yet, at the same time, groaning at the touch, involuntarily pushing his hips into the bed when Tod's hands slid past his back and over his rear.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Tod whispered, although he never moved his hand from the crease of his thigh, his thumb deliberately close, hovering, waiting for permission to touch that part of him. "It's not gonna… bring up any memories or anything?"

"Oh, for the love a' God," Buz grunted, turning to glare at him.

"Alright," Tod sighed, leaving him just long enough to paw through one of the suitcases and search for the bottle of mineral oil. When he had it, he returned to the bed, sitting cross-legged beside Buz, wordlessly unscrewing the cap.

"Make sure you get enough in there," Buz warned. "And take your time. Don't rush with this."

"I know," Tod said firmly. "I, uh, I've paid attention to what you do."

Buz knew he had to bite his tongue if he didn't want Tod to catch on to how anxious he was. It would be okay, he knew. This was Tod, after all. He laid his head on the pillow and kept an eye trained on his companion.

The rain continued to pour. The room filled with light, so bright it made Buz's eyes hurt, and the crack of thunder was so loud it made the walls rattle. Tod carefully poured the oil onto his fingers. He brought his hand around Buz's body, and his tongue darted over his lips in concentration. Buz forced himself not to gasp at the fingers between his legs, that part of him hyper-sensitive to the chipped nails and callused skin.

"You gotta use more than that," he spat quickly.

"I know!" Tod replied sharply, returning his hand to the bottle, sighing softly with the second round of oil. "It's not too late to change your mind if you're having second thoughts."

Buz scowled, parting his legs a little more to make way for Tod's big hands. He closed his eyes and focused on the sound of the rain on the roof, letting it wash away his nerves like the dust on the Corvette. Tod slowly worked in one finger, more delicate than Buz had ever been with him, even on his first time. Buz gritted his teeth hard at the feeling of each bumpy knuckle, although as easy as it went in he almost felt like he was forcing his own discomfort. But there was a long way to go, he knew- though having been on the receiving end, Tod had apparently learned the value of taking it easy.

When at last he eased in the second finger, Buz could feel himself relaxing more and more, eventually coming to savor those knuckles each time they slid in. Sometime after he'd laid down his anxiety had made him go soft, but now he could feel himself ready and hard again, even if Tod's inexperienced hands continued to entirely miss the spot deep within him that felt so fantastic.

Another crack of lightning shook the rafters, flashing so bright Buz could see it through his closed eyelids.

"Okay," he sighed wearily. "That's enough."

Tod removed his hand, wiping his fingers on his thigh. "That's a lot further than I ever thought I'd get."

"No," Buz said. "I mean, I'm ready." Tod grinned like a kid. What a twang in his heart it gave him to see how stupidly happy it made Tod. Even more moving was really studying him, seeing that he was beginning to drip from waiting so long, taking so much time to make sure he was comfortable. He filled his fist with oil and set the bottle aside on the end table, his breath finally beginning to hitch as he rubbed himself ready. He poised himself over Buz, holding back despite his eagerness, gently holding himself in place.

Buz swallowed the groan that tried to escape him as Tod finally pushed in. Nothing could prepare him to be reminded what it felt like to be filled. He buried his face in the pillow and dug his fingers into the sheets, holding his breath until he could feel Tod's hips pressed all the way up against him. Even over the torrential rain he could hear Tod's heavy breathing and he waited, bracing himself.

Tod stopped, Buz guessed to catch his breath before he continued, but a moment later he was sliding one of those enormous hands under his chest, getting a sturdy grip on his body before falling to his side, dragging Buz along with him.

At this Buz couldn't force himself to stay silent. He grunted out loud as Tod shifted his hips to make up for the different angle, untangling his legs from Buz's so that he came to rest with his chest pressed into Buz's back, his thighs cradling him, his big arms holding his waist as he kissed him on his neck and shoulders.

Laying in such a way reminded Buz once and for all how much bigger Tod really was. Personality aside, it was Tod who had the broad shoulders, the giant, strong hands, the inches in stature. On their sides as they were, Tod was big enough to wrap his whole body around Buz, and keep himself buried deep within him as he found a way to settle comfortably in the new position.

Buz felt like his heart was trapped somewhere in his throat. His body tightened and quivered around Tod, his guts unused to the feeling. He craned his neck to face Tod and meet his eyes. Tod continued to hold him, kissing his shoulders softly, then lifting his head and moving to kiss his lips. His hand moved from holding him by the chest, up to his arm and then down past his wrist, engulfing Buz's hand in his own, keeping it flattened against his hip as he hesitantly pulled back and thrust up into him.

Buz groaned and turned his face away, letting out a choked gasp with each breath. Tod's face was nestled against his neck, and though he was clearly trying to keep a slow, steady pace, Buz could feel his movements become more frantic every moment. His grasp tightened around Buz's hand, and his breath was hot and harsh on his skin. He knew Tod wasn't going to last much longer, and Tod must've known it too, because he reluctantly released Buz's hand and reached around to take told of him, trying to get him close enough to finish around the same time. Buz held on to Tod's hip, straining to reach so far back. Tod's grip was tight and Buz could feel himself slipping closer and closer, and when Tod's rhythm suddenly stopped and he sank his teeth into his shoulder, writhing hard and twisting his hand, it was over for him, too. He swore and threw back his head, digging his fingers into Tod's skin and finishing into his hand.

As they caught their breath, there was silence. It occurred to Buz as he came down that the rain had stopped, although he couldn't begin to guess when. Exhausted as he was, he wriggled under Tod's grip and Tod sighed and slipped out of him, rolling onto his back and flinging his arm over his face.

Buz winced and bit his lip at the soreness as he stood, feeling himself for cuts as he limped to the window. He sighed gratefully at his clean fingers and leaned his weight tiredly against the cool wall, pulling the curtain back just far enough to peer out into the parking lot.

Steam billowed off of the hot asphalt, the puddles evaporating just as quickly as they'd formed. The sky was bright already, the sun just beginning to emerge from the lightening clouds. Over the flat brown landscape spanned a wide, arcing rainbow.

Tod chuckled softly to himself behind him. Turning his attention away from the strange weather, Buz replaced the curtain and folded his arms.

"Spill it," he ordered.

Tod continued to grin. "I don't know. I just feel like something's different."

"Yeah," Buz agreed. "Maybe it is."

The smile began to fade.

"But, uh, next time warn me if you're gonna pull another stunt like that," Buz said, punctuating it by pulling the curtain back and returning to peering out the window.

There was a long pause, and then, laughing, "Next time…"


End file.
